THE FATE OF ONTARIO PLACE

Muse News | Amy Intrator

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Welcome back to Muse News. For the first edition of Winter 2019, I am shifting the focus from a museum to a cultural heritage landscape. If you’ve been following provincial news these past few months, you’re likely aware of the on-going debate surrounding Ontario Place. In today’s article, I will take a look at the controversy and the contested future of the park. While Ontario Place may not fit some traditional definitions of “museum,” the space has been recognized for its cultural heritage value. Now, the fate of Ontario Place rests between competing cultural and commercial interests.

Image of Ontario Place featuring the large Cinesphere structure. Source.

Background

Ontario Place opened in 1971 with the ambitious vision of showcasing the province’s identity, culture and economic growth through a combination of recreation, education, and entertainment spaces. Ontario Place remained an icon for generations of Canadians, but the province closed the park in 2012, due to falling revenues.

Since the park closed, the fate of the land has been heavily contested. Ontario Place sits on prime waterfront property, which has led to competing visions of future development. In 2012, John Tory was a mayoral candidate and Doug Ford was a city councillor, but even then, these two politicians had competing views about the land. Tory envisioned a “new public backyard” with a mix of private land for condo development and public areas to include parks, artists’ studios, cafes, and more. Ford, on the other hand, has been interested in developing a casino in Toronto since the days when his brother was the mayor of Toronto.

Aerial photo of Ontario Place displaying the prime waterfront property. Source. 

Competing visions for the land have also met public resistance over the past six years. Waterfront for All, a citizens group made up of over 30 organizations, has been actively advocating for an accessible waterfront. This group is one of many that has expressed alarm over plans to convert a large percentage of Ontario Place grounds into private land.


Recent Developments

The ongoing debate about Ontario Place has been reignited by a recent statement by Tourism Minister Michael Tibollo. The January 18th statement revealed that the government is now accepting proposals to develop Ontario Place. The statement calls for the private sector to submit their vision for the future of the land, and by the sounds of this extremely vague statement, that vision could include anything from a world-class cultural gathering point to a mega-mall.

Our government is taking action to bring Ontario Place back to life and make it a spectacular, world-class, year-round destination. We are accepting proposals for development that will attract local and international visitors for generations to come.https://t.co/qHYrPOqtw5 pic.twitter.com/O7qYBHVFaa

— Michael Tibollo (@MichaelTibollo) January 19, 2019

The statement is so open-ended that there is no real indication what the government would prefer to see on the land, but one thing is for sure: the daunting casino could still be accepted as the new “vision” for Ontario Place.

Tibollo states that this new development should signal to the world that “Ontario is open for business.” Maybe this is just a figure of speech, but the emphasis on business also seems like a move away from the initial vision of Ontario Place as an inclusive, open space.


Cultural Significance

Ontario Place, once recognized as a place with distinct cultural heritage value, is now a prize in a private bidding war. The space was always meant to showcase the province, but originally the site was intended to bring the population of Ontario together. Now, the land could be transformed into a private-use club, a casino, or another exclusive business venture.

One of the most troubling aspects of this situation: the literal erasure of the land’s cultural heritage value. Today, if you want to look at the Heritage Statement of Ontario Place online, you will be directed to this page. The current website details the call for development proposals, and there is not one mention of “heritage” or “history.”  So how is this a heritage statement?

Thanks to the ever-handy internet archive the Wayback Machine, which archives old versions of web pages, you can see what the actual Ontario Place Heritage Statement looked like before it was removed from the government website.

The original Heritage Statement is quite comprehensive and includes a detailed description of the heritage attributes of Ontario Place, including the Cinesphere and pod structures. These structures are recognized for the design attributes, but under the new call-for-developments, these areas are open to be redeveloped.

One of the pod structures at Ontario Place. These structures are listed as one of the heritage features of the park. Source.

Heritage officials have stated that even though Ontario Place is recognized as a provincially significant heritage property, the buildings could still be demolished.

The case of Ontario Place forces me to wonder: Is it time to reconsider how we protect provincial cultural heritage from being overwritten and under protected?